VALUE-BASED VISIONING FOR NON-RECURRENCE OF VIOLENCE IN FUTURE

A Facilitation Guide for Community

Dialogue

Radhika Hettiarachchi and Nilakshi De Silva, Marisa Fernando, Abdul Cader Mahir and Nawas Mohammed with special acknowledgement of Sadath Mohammed Ismail, Rani Singarajah, Krishanthi Amarasinghe from Search for Common Ground, Thillayamma Kumarasooriyan and Subramaniyam Nageshwaran from Akkraipattu Women’s Development Foundation in Ampara, Jabanathan Dalima, Kugathasan Sajeevan and Inthumani Hariharathamotharan from Viluthu Centre for Human Resources Development in Mannar, and Chaminda Jayasekera, Namal Sharshana Herath, Tharindu Srimal and Wijayananda kadurupokuna from Prathiba Media Network in Matara

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PG. 3 INTRODUCTION A. The context and need for memorialisation B. The Community Memorialisation Project (CMP) C. The Dialogue Process, objectives and expected impacts

PG. 6 FACILITATION TIPS

A. How to use this guide and the role of the facilitator B. General tips for the facilitator C. What to do - before the workshop, at the workshop and after the workshop D. Agenda at a glance

PG. 9 SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY

A. Welcoming the participants and opening the day’s sessions B. Introducing the goals of the workshop C. Introducing each other and breaking the ice

PG. 10 SESSION 2: THE SELF - VISUALISING PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY

A. Experience mapping and visualizing personal narratives B. Sharing experiences C. Ascribing emotional responses to lived experience

PG. 11 SESSION 3: THE OTHER – EXPLORATION OF OTHERS’ LIVED EXPERIENCE

A. Experiences stories and memories of others B. Empathetic responses to others’ experiences

PG. 13 SESSION 4: VALUE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF CONFLICT

A. Identifying values lacking in society that may lead to conflict B. Discussing the impact of missing values on reconciliation and non-recurrence

PG. 15 SESSION 5: VALUE-BASED VISIONING FOR NON-RECURRENCE OF VIOLENCE

A. Creating a vision of a just and peaceful society for future generations B. Understanding the practical applications of value-based society C. Circle of commitment

PG. 17 SESSION 6: CLOSING THE DAY

A. Evaluations and feedback

PG. 18 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES A. Detailed facilitator guide B. Stationary Checklist C. Evaluation/ Feedback Form D. Keeping a Facilitation Diary E. Recommended reading from the project F. Your notes

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INTRODUCTION

THE CONTEXT AND NEED FOR MEMORIALISATION In the post-independence era, Sri Lanka has experienced many incidents of violence and violent conflict. The ethnic riots of the 50s, the youth insurrections of the70s and 80s and the ethno-political conflict that ended in 2009 after a 26 year war, with a crushing military victory. In many of these instances there was no political solution; which resulted in the creation of obvious winners and losers. In recent years the post-war narrative created, was nationalistic and triumphalist. The Government went on to memorialize only the soldiers that died, building monuments and symbolic representation of victory eschewing the chance to create a just peace. In the aftermath of the 2015 election, the transitional justice mechanisms and its processes took precedence with memorialisation being termed a part of reparations. Consultations with ordinary citizens, including those who have been directly affected by war, has resulted in the following findings:

- A clear majority of people from those consulted feel that it is important to memorialise in some way, so as ‘to remember’ what happened.

- That memorials and memorialisation at national and community levels are necessary for healing. However, many believe that they should not cause harm or hurt the feelings of other communities within the country or incite hatred.

- There is for some a need to move on and focus on immediate needs. There is violence inherent in re-opening old wounds, of re-awakening trauma with no recourse to a solution or closure, because the onus of the solution people seek is with the Government. However, the past needs to be dealt with constructively yet with care.

- While most Sri Lankans have some experiences and knowledge of violent conflict and its impacts, there is little positive and reflective transference of those experience between generations; there is little space created to do so, and there is little understanding of ‘why’ Sri Lanka had a violent conflict. However, it can be assumed that WITHOUT understanding ‘why’ and what elements or conditions were present when conflict occurred it is difficult to imagine what signs and symptoms for which society needs to be vigilant in order to contribute to preventing conflict and violence in future.

- The focus of reconciliation is backward looking, without the multi-directionality of memory. Without capitalising on this referential nature of memory, there are fresh conflicts brewing in Sri Lanka that are not being linked to the experiences of our violent past.

It is within this context that the Community Memorialisation Project exists.

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THE COMMUNITY MEMORIALISATION PROJECT The overall goal of the two-year project is to create an environment conducive to acknowledge and protect multiple historical memories on violent conflict across socio-ethnic; political, and regional divides in Sri Lanka. Through the collection of life-histories from Matara, Ampara, and Matara districts, the project not only archives and preserves multiple narratives but it uses these stories of ordinary Sri Lankans to create a platform for dialogue on how we can prevent violence in the future. The specific objectives of the memory project are:

- To create platforms for individuals and communities, from across ethnic, political and regional divides, to share their stories and engage in community dialogue and memorializing

- To preserve historical memory through archiving and disseminating the narratives to a wider audience; and

- To facilitate a process of common understanding on policy outlooks and programs on managing, and using historical memories for peacebuilding

To do this, the project focuses on four pillars of work:

- Collecting and archiving life-histories of individuals and groups - Deepening dialogue and sharing life histories at a grassroots level to engage

communities over a sustained period on creating empathy and compassion as well as the need for building a value-based society

- Widening the dialogue through media outlets and social media for sharing histories, and encouraging discussion on personal responsibilities and impacts on prevention of violence through civic responsibility, value-based societies

- Engaging policy and practitioners in processes of memorialisation for future peace.

The Community Memorialisation Project facilitates access to multiple narratives of personal history: personal narratives therefore are ‘real’ to those that experienced it and the absolute truth does not matter as much as the ability to tell one’s perspective. The project works within the idea that memory must be dealt with, in homogenous groups first, so as to create space for pain and prejudice to emerge, before working with the perceived ‘other’ towards contributing to attitude changes between communities of varying ethno-religious or socio-political identities about how we deal with conflicts or the propensity for violence in future. The project itself, takes no position on the processes of Sri Lanka’s transitional justice. It attempts to add the vast reserve of memory about conflict and violence within society as a tool to assess and contribute to prevention of present and future conflicts.

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THE OVERALL DIALOGUE PROCESS The Dialogue Process deepens engagement within the same or neighbouring communities at a grassroots level, which is the first phase of dialogues. The second and third phases of dialogues, happen between some of the ‘champions’ (a few individuals with relative influence within their communities that engaged with the project from its pre-planning, orientation, collection of histories phases) from each village, at a divisional and inter-district level where groups will travel outside their village and district. This will create a better impact than one-off workshops by leaving behind a core group of influencers. The proposed number of village-based dialogues are 15-20 at the village level in each district, with 6-9 at divisional level (including specifically for youth and for local Government staff), and 3 at inter-district level. The dialogue process is built up within the project’s ethos of learning and evolving and as such have been developed based on local needs that have emerged during consultations, have been piloted, reviewed, piloted in all three districts with various ethno-religious groups, in both local languages and finalised. The project will also provide facilitation training for value-based understanding of conflict and visioning for non-recurrence for selected youth, so as to create a second layer of leadership for non-recurrence of violence at the district level. The project is therefore based on a validated methodology. OVERVIEW OF THE WORKSHOP AND EXPECTED IMPACTS This methodology divides the workshop into 2 parts. The first part is about dealing with the past and comprises a first session focused on the ‘self’ or catharsis - drawing out the experiences of violence and the emotional responses to ‘what we know has happened to us’; the second session focuses on the ‘the other’ and empathy and compassion for what another Sri Lankan in another region has been through. The first part of the day concludes with the realisation that we have all witnessed or experienced a degree of violence and as individuals or communities do not wish the same for our children. The second half of the day, connects the past to the future by focusing on an understanding of why conflicts might happen at a basic level of values and principles that make up a humane society and a visioning of the future built of a set of of values that promote non-recurrence of violence in future. The process contributes to building community resilience to potential conflicts or violent responses – with simple, practical values. At each dialogue workshop the specific objectives to aim for are:

- Acceptance that almost everyone has personally witnessed or been directly affected by violence, to varying degrees at different times in Sri Lanka’s history

- A hope that this must not happen in our children’s generation - Belief and knowledge that although there are many elements beyond personal

control that must be in place to prevent conflict or violence, there are some things, such as practicing values, which we can do or control as individuals

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FACILITATION TIPS

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

The session plans (for sessions 1 to 6) are meant to be used by facilitators during the workshop. However, please note that must be used only after careful consideration and after fully familiarising yourself with the detailed facilitator guide. The detailed guide supplements the information and tips given in the session plans with the logic of the process, assumptions made, the descriptions of the life-histories being used during the workshop, further information on dealing with sensitive narratives or contested narratives as well as trauma and violent opposition to the goals of the workshop. This can be found in the Additional Resources Section after the end of the Session Plans. THE ROLE OF THE FACILITATOR

These workshops are meant to be facilitated dialogues. As such, as the primary role of the facilitator is to engage communities in conversation, teasing out their views and thoughts in an elicitive process. The facilitator should at no point be a trainer (or an expert in subject knowledge), imparting knowledge, or leading the participants by providing information or personal opinions. This may create bias or the unintentional consequence of providing responses by participants anticipating what we may ‘want’ to hear rather than their own thoughts. GENERAL TIPS FOR FACILITATION

- Generally, the facilitator should always attempt to throw back questions or ideas coming from the audience to the participants to create a brief dialogue instead of providing new content except where direction, definitions or clarity is required.

- It is important that everyone is able to fully participate. As such, there is a mix of small groups work, individual work and open forum discussions. If some people dominate discussions, employ means of balancing this out by giving the disruptors other roles (such as scribe, presenter, group work facilitation support).

- Allow time for discussion but also move the conversation along moving quickly between sessions without giving information about the following session. Try to stay within the indicated time durations for each session.

- In most cases, parents are not able to leave their children behind. If they bring the children, engage the district partner or project coordinator in providing entertainment (toys, balloons, colouring books or drawing materials for them)

- There will be difficult histories and narratives emerging in some discussions. Be mindful of potential trauma of re-awakening old memories. If collective of individual trauma is very pronounced, stop the sessions or take those individuals aside and offer them the psycho-social referral service available at district levels through the District Partner.

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- Respect the wishes of those who find the conversation difficult and choose to leave the workshop. Do not attempt to coerce or cajole them to stay.

- Use culturally appropriate ice-breakers and energisers whenever necessary - Always acknowledge multiple narratives, versions of the truth and gratefully

acknowledge honest, open dialogue. WHAT TO DO: BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE WORKSHOP

Before each workshop engage with the project coordinators and District Partners on:

- venue considerations: the venue must have two separate sections so that the ‘other’s’ stories as a mini-exhibition can be set up in a space where participants will not go read it before the relevant session.

- understanding participant background and identifying champions: the participants must include about 20% youth (below 25), 20% elders (above 65) and 60% in between. It must also be gender balanced as much as possible. The District Partner is familiar with the composition of each group. As such, the facilitator needs to familiarise himself/herself with the general background of the participants and any special cases before the workshop

- understanding village background: The District Partner is familiar with the background of violence of the village or villages at the workshop. It is important to understand what this is – for example, village was heavily affected by JVP violence or by army violence, or the village was affected by war and displacement etc.

- selection of stories for the mini-exhibition: based on the group of participants and their experiences, the stories that must go into the mini-exhibition should be selected to reflect some similarities and some differences

During the workshop:

- Support facilitator or co-facilitator: there is a need for a co-facilitator or supporting facilitator during the workshops to help with group work, to help with clustering ideas that emerge and manage participants. Plan out who and how this will work together with the District Partner and the Project Coordinator

- Engaging with Rapporteur: there will be a note-taker at each workshop. Coordinate with him/her the most unobtrusive method of recording the conversations and outcomes of dialogue without attribution to specific individuals.

After the workshop:

- After Action Review: after each workshop the project coordinator will conduct a brief discussion with the facilitator and district partner about the workshop

- Facilitation diary: the facilitator is expected to keep a short diary of reflections immediately following the workshop, thus recording first impressions

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AGENDA AT A GLANCE 09.30 – 10.00 - Introductory Session 10.00 – 10.15 - Tea/Coffee 10.15 – 11.15 - Session One: Self 11.15 – 12.15 - Session Two: Other 12.15 – 12.45 - Lunch 12.45 – 01.45 - Session Three: A value-based Analysis 01.45 – 02.45 - Session Four: A value-based society 02.45 – 03.00 - Feedback and wrap-up 03.00 – 03.15 - Tea/Coffee

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SESSION ONE: INTRODUCTORY SESSION

OBJECTIVE OF THE SESSION: to create a safe and open space for dialogue

SESSION DURATION: 30 minutes

TIP: Do not spend too much time on this session, explaining the purpose, agenda of the day and project goals as the those will emerge throughout the day and we do not want to ‘lead’ the participants by giving them the end goal before going through the sessions. The less said about the process of the day, the better!

TIP: This is not a training exercise. As such the objective of this workshop is not to impart knowledge or develop a course of action for a particularly purpose. It is entirely an exercise is facilitating the views and learning.

TIP: Have the district partner or organising institution welcome the participants as they already have the relationship with the participants, having invited them in person.

TIP: Use ice-breakers if necessary. If there are small children, give them activities in the same area away from the sessions.

SESSION PLAN: 1. Welcome and introduction to the Community Memorialisation Project (by the

district partner): The purpose of Mathakayata Idak (in Sinhala) or Ninaivalakal (in Tamil) is to remember our experiences, courageous acts, losses and hopes in order to deal with our past in a constructive way, in order to support dialogue within communities

2. Opening ritual: Generally, this should be secular, but be open to religious or cultural practices if it is of the participants choosing on a case by case basis. In a particularly homogeneous, religious community, if the participants wish to, the opening ritual can be a prayer or a chant. In a culturally homogeneous space it can be a traditional song or a mode of greeting that is common practice

3. The goal of the gathering: to share our experiences with each other, and think

about what lessons we might be able to learn and use in our lives based on our life experiences

4. Introduction of participants: this can be in the form of each participant

introducing his/her neighbour or each participant introducing themselves with their name, village and something unique about themselves etc. The objective is to make the group comfortable with each other’s presence although most close-knit village groups will know each other quite well.

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SESSION 2: THE SELF – VISUALISING PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY

OBJECTIVE OF THE SESSION: The objective here is to use these two preliminary sessions (2 and 3) as a catalyst or launching pad for the next two sessions (4 and 5). The specific objective of this session is to facilitate reflection and catharsis by helping the groups remember their personal and collective experiences of violence and share them with each other.

SESSION DURATION: 1 hour

TIP: Group the participants by their village, in situations where more than one village is represented. If it is one village only break up into a few small groups based on age, or gender as relevant to the situation.

TIP: If there are a few individuals within groups that dominate the conversation, or are by profession social mobilisers, try and pull them out of the group by engaging them in some other way, such as to scribe or support the facilitation

MATERIALS: Bristol board or flip chart paper, pens, pencils, colour pencils but NOT chalk and blue tack, pins or tape or flip chart stands and coloured post-it notes

METHODOLOGY: Group work

SESSION PLAN: 1. Visualising experiences: What are the incidents of war, or violence, or painful

memories that your village has experienced? This might be a collective set of memories or with highlights of personal experiences. Ask the groups to visualize these in any format they choose.

2. Sharing of experiences with each other: Share maps in marketplace style, presented by one person while the others walk around the room and listen to each village experience. Let the groups share their stories, after which offer anyone from the group to add to the story.

3. Emotional responses: Ask each individual to express how they feel about their own story, collective stories by taking a coloured post-it note and writing on it how the process made you feel (i.e. frustrated, sad, hopeful, angry, courageous etc.). Paste them next to each of the visualisations – one’s own as well as the other groups

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SESSION 3: THE OTHER – AN EXPLORATION OF OTHERS’ EXPERIENCES __________________________________

OBJECTIVE OF THE SESSION: The objective here is to use these two preliminary sessions (2 and 3) as a catalyst or launching pad for the next two sessions (4 and 5). The specific objective of this session is to facilitate empathy, compassion and understanding by being exposed to life histories of others from outside the village, ethno-religious community and the district.

SESSION DURATION: 1 hour

TIP: Briefly explain of and where the stories are from and these were all participants, voluntarily giving their life histories to be shared with fellow Sri Lankans, most hand-written and unedited.

TIP: Be familiar with the pool of 36 stories available for the mini-exhibition so that you can select stories of relevance or difference based on the ethnicity, socio-economic status and gender of the homogeneous group. You may want to prioritise the stories of the other two districts if you wish to show the similarities or differences between the North vs South or you may wish to show the differences within the same district between other ethno-religious groups’ experiences.

TIP: In discussion with project partners from the district, who will know the detailed ethno-religious and socio-economic make-up of the participants, decide which stories you would like to showcase. Set these up in a separate area from where the sessions are held to avoid pre-reading.

TIP: It is important to encourage free expression, even if it is negative, vindictive, angry or prejudiced. The purpose of having homogeneous groups with facilitators from the same ethno-religious make-up is to allow for uninhibited sharing. Do not try to have conversations about empathy or co-existence or reconciliation before or during the session, until after the emotional responses activity. TIP: Please read the detailed facilitator guide on how to manage situations of conflict, contested narratives, requests for transitional justice or discussions on truth

MATERIALS: 6 videos, 9 photo-essays, 9 letters, 6 trees of life, 6 children’s memory maps from 3 districts and coloured post-its

METHODOLOGY: Open discussion

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SESSION PLAN:

1. Viewing stories: Start with 2-3 videos in plenary and then ask the participants to walk around, read the stories (on the original or by picking up the clipboards with the translated versions) of the stories. Support those who are unable to read the stories, and be available to answer questions.

2. Emotional responses: Take another colour of post-it notes and write how reading and listening to others stories made you feel in one or two words. Paste the on the stories.

3. Discuss how emotions were the same or different and acknowledge that all

these memories are valid to the individual, and these experiences are difficult

when opening up. Discuss emotions felt by the participants, rather than the

versions of the truth, specific issues arising, external governance or transitional

justice related factors or personal grievances

4. An acknowledgement of all suffering in this context should be a secular exercise

such as a minute of silence. But in some homogeneous communities where a

particularly faith is strong, be open to the idea of a chant or a prayer as this is

one possible way to move the conversation towards ‘forgiveness’, ‘compassion’

or ‘mercy’ thereby diffusing tension. Be mindful, that this is not suggested or

imposed by the facilitator in multi-cultural or multi-religious groups – but

something that should be practiced if the community wishes to do so. You could

ask the community, how they might like to acknowledge what was said.

_______________________________________________________________________

ENDING THE FIRST HALF (CATHARSIS AND EMPATHY) OF THE WORKSHOP: The key landing point at the close of sessions 1 and 2 are:

- to acknowledge that suffering is various, to varying degrees but universally felt by most Sri Lankans.

- if we don’t want to feel or experiences the traumas we have shared in the first sessions or seen in the second session, and we want to experience violence or bear the consequences of violence, how can we as individual do to prevent it in future at a personal level?

______________________________________________________________________

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SESSION 4: VALUE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF CONFLICT

SESSION OBJECTIVE: The objective of the second half of the day is to move from recounting the experiences of violence from the past, to what we ca do to prevent it in the future through creating a value-based society (sessions 4 and 5). The specific objective of session 4 is to create the background understanding of, how the loss of values affects the ability to de-escalate conflicts from becoming violent. The assumption here is that if society is not familiar with some of the reasons why or what lead to violent conflict, then it is not easy to recognise the symptoms for preventing conflict.

SESSION DURATION: 1 hour

TIP: In some cases, people may want to leave during lunch. In such a situation,

abbreviate the sessions by combining session 4 and 5 (value-based understanding of

conflict and value-based visioning for the future by completing session 4, but moving

straight into session 5 through a plenary discussion.

TIP: Keep the session focused on values – or those characteristics of intrinsic value that

individuals can have control over as they are about accepting certain norms, principles

and behaviour patterns and inculcating them into one’s own life and therefore are

entirely within personal control. Keep the dialogue focused on these ‘personally

controllable principles’ rather than discussing specific unresolved or emerging issues

and needs that someone else, including the Government is duty-bound to provide and

as such is not within individual control.

TIP: According to the output and discussion levels of the previous session, either have

the same groups or separate the groups into age-groups. This will depend on the ability

of individuals to stay focused, the amount of anger or distraction within the groups. For

example, if the younger generation is angry, it maybe useful to keep them together to

resolve this or in some cases this anger maybe dissipated if merged with a group of

elders who may have lived through conflict and therefore able to provide a sense of

hope for the future. It is up to the facilitator to ascertain the mood of the group and

split them accordingly.

MATERIALS: Flash cards or coloured paper, one per participant, pens, blue tack, pins or tape, brown paper or flip chart paper to create a ‘wall’ for pasting the cards

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METHODOLOGY: Group work

SESSION PLAN:

1. Introduction of ‘values’ - It is important to define and differentiate between

various words in Sinhala and Tamil for what values mean. You may ask the

plenary what is meant by values but quickly set the parameters of the discussion

by providing a definition of values to keep the session focused. For this purpose,

define values as principles or standards of behaviour, of what considers

important in order to create a better, more peaceful and prosperous society

2. Identifying the ‘missing values’ that leads to conflict: Once the participants are

in groups, pose the question, ‘what values may have been missing in society

that lead to violence between Sri Lankans in the past?’ Write these on the cards

provided, individually

3. Sharing group discussions: In open forum share each groups’ values as written

by individuals and put up the cards in clusters at the front of the room as they

are shared. Separate those that one can have individual control over and those

that are outside of the individuals personal control (for example, rule of law

versus respect for the rule of law)

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SESSION 5: VISIONING A VALUE-BASED SOCIETY FOR NON-RECURRENCE OF VIOLENCE

OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION: The objective of the second half of the day is to move

from recounting the experiences of violence from the past, to what we ca do to prevent

it in the future through creating a value-based society (sessions 4 and 5). The specific

objective of this session is to identify the key traits of a value-based society and how

one can ‘practice’ these values in everyday life in order to contribute to non-recurrence

of violence.

SESSION DURATION: 1 hour

TIP: At this stage, it will be helpful to connect the past to the present, and to ask

participants to also consider what conflicts or tensions currently exist in their society as

they think about the values that need to be practiced to prevent violence and conflict.

TIP: Make clear that the entire day of reflection of the past experiences, the emotions

felt as they looked at the self or the the empathy generated for the other, was leading

to this point about what kind of society we want to build in the future for the next

generation or the generations to come in order to to resolve conflicts non-violently

TIP: In terms of transference of memory without prejudice, you may discuss how the

next generation is linked to the idea of non-recurrence of violence. In effect, what key

values should we pass on?

MATERIAL: Flash cards, pens and blue tack, pins or tape and flip board paper

METHODOLOGY: Individual exercise and open forum discussion

SESSION PLAN:

1. Visualising values: Ask the participants to write down a few values on flash

cards, individually, considering the values that were missing in the past, the

prevailing conditions in the present that might lead to conflict and the values

that could have an impact on preventing conflict. The question might be framed

as – ‘In the future, what is the kind of society do you want your children to live

in?’ or ‘in 2025, what kind of values do you want a Sri Lankan citizen to have?’

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2. Creating a value-board: As participants share the values they have identified, create a clustered visualisation. AS you cluster them, some of the values that are not in the control of the individual or are responsibilities of the Government or society at large, place on a different side. Acknowledge these as important yet, as beyond the control of an individual in their daily life.

3. Practicing values: Ask the participants to look over the value board they’ve

created and ask the question - How do we practice values in everyday life? As an open forum, link a few of these identified value to actions (for example, respecting difference by visiting and respecting others’ religious sites)

4. Personal commitment: Write down a simple, practical commitment to uphold

one value for non-recurrence and read it out to each other in a circles. This card

is to be taken home by the participant. Highlight the importance of practicing

values in daily life, especially for teaching values by example to children.

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SESSION 6: FEEDBACK AND WRAP-UP

OBJECTIVES OF THE SESSION: The objective of this session is to end the day’s workshop

by giving participants the opportunity to provide feedback and their views on the

content of the workshop.

SESSION DURATION: 15 minutes

TIP: To avoid a feeling of discomfort for providing accurate feedback because of the

presence of the facilitator, the district partner organisation should conduct this session

while the facilitator leaves the room.

TIP: Please leave at least 10 minutes BEFORE the scheduled end of the workshop for participants to complete the M&E form (so that they are not in a hurry to leave).

TIP: Please ask them to drop it off in a box or some container before they leave. Do not

check the forms, read the feedback or comment on the feedback received in front of

the participants (this is to help ensure that they understand that their anonymity will be

protected

METHODOLOGY: Individual responses on printed hand out

SESSION PLAN:

1. When you start the M&E session, start by asking the participants to reflect back

over what they did over the entire day.

2. Please ask them to answer ALL the questions on the 2 pages.

3. Explain the scale; that the happy face above the number 5 means their

satisfaction is high while the scale is decreases towards 1 and the sad face.

4. Please ask them to be as honest and as open as possible as we want to replicate

the workshop elsewhere and their feedback will help to change what is not

working well and do something better / more useful

5. Their names are not needed (unless they want to put it). However, please

indicate gender, age and DS division

6. Offer to help older participants who may have trouble filling out the form

_______________________________________________________________________

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A. DETAILED FACILITATOR GUIDE

INTRODUCTORY SESSION – Introducing the facilitator

When introducing yourselves, the facilitators simply shares your names, village or district and that they are here as facilitator. There is no need to share information about your organisations or your past work experience, particularly in peacebuilding or transitional justice.

Introduction to the workshop

When introducing project, DO NOT say this is about non-recurrence, DO NOT say this is about peacebuilding or social cohesion, DO NOT say this is about building understanding and empathy between communities as it may lead to structuring or influencing the direction of dialogue. IF QUESTIONED, this does not mean that if questioned the facilitator is required to be dishonest. The objectives can be shared truthfully if the need arises, however, it is best to avoid the overall outcomes expected simply in order to prevent ‘leading’ the group rather than eliciting from the group. DO MAKE CLEAR, if asked only, that this is not a development project, nor will it provide any specific answers to questions of disappearance or reparation or land restitution because we as an NGO or you as a facilitator cannot responsibly provide accurate answers to questions that can only be truly answered by the Government or relevant authority DO NOT make this a training exercise. As such the objective of this workshop is not to impart knowledge or develop a course of action for a particularly purpose (such as advocacy). It is entirely an exercise is facilitating the views, needs and lessons learned of the group at the workshop and draw out their own willingness to affect changes in their lives in order to change society from the bottom-up. Therefore, refrain from ‘training mode’ or sharing your own opinions, lessons and beliefs. If there are questions from the audience, throw it back into the group and facilitate answers from the audience and highlight what you want to say through discussion. BEAR IN MIND the reason they are asked if some of them were involved in this project before is for continuity and a logical long-term engagement that makes it clear that, this is not an isolated, one-off event for ‘reconciliation’ but a process of thoughtful engagement with the same communities (even if some of the participants are new) over a period of time.

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SESSION 1: THE SELF Working groups visualising their experiences of violence

SHOULD DISPUTE OCCUR ABOUT VERSIONS OF TRUTH or if there are contesting narratives or disagreements about what happened, how it happened or the impact – it is important to first let the discussions within the groups happen, and then to intervene with the premise that ‘the absolute ‘truth’ is not as important in a situation where there is no documentation but only a multitude of ways in which people have experienced personal truths. De-escalate any assertions of what is true and what is not, by dealing with contested narratives as perspectives or personal experiences and the feelings or emotions that these experiences have created within the person/persons rather than the incident or event in contestation. IF QUESTIONS PERSIST, about the link to truth and justice, it would be useful to state that there are other efforts from Government and NGOs that are about truth-telling, human rights, victims perspectives and justice - such as truth commissions, disappearance commission - that might do the work of finding absolute truth whereas our focus is not that, but rather to provide opportunities for accepting multiple truths, particularly the perspectives of ordinary individuals and communities who are otherwise are not heard. IF THERE IS DEEP TRAUMA in a few individuals who may need to to deal with such trauma, take to side discretely and offer to stop the session if it is painful, or offer to refer the person to a support service. In each of the districts, the District Partners have lists of possible support services.

Sharing experiences in market place

Do not allow for contested narratives to emerge at this point because resolving ‘truth’ is not the objective of the session but the emotion of catharsis or opening up the past in order to deal with the residual emotions they may bring up – the objective of which eventually, is healing.

Emotional Responses Acknowledge the emotional responses but do not delve into them. The facilitators can count how many/ what type of emotions are expressed and request the rapporteur to make a note of it during the next session when the groups are working separately.

SESSION 2: THE OTHER Descriptions of materials All stories are voluntarily given, sometimes anonymously where no

names are visible and sometimes with names. They are presented unedited but with translations in all languages. These are only a few of the stories but there are 350 stories, which are all online and archived at the National Archives of Sri Lanka.

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Trees of life: represents the story of one person. The roots are personal family history; the ground is where they are today; the bark is their experiences of violence; the branches their hopes; the leaves are people they value and the fruits are traits they value in themselves Letters: hand-written and unedited. These are about personal or collective experiences of particular villages Children’s Memory Maps: These are maps of the village drawn by children together with their elders, where the elders fill in gaps in history for the children of incidents that happened before their time. Videos: interviews with individuals and groups showcasing life histories as well as their opinions on peacebuilding, justice, memorialisation and advice to the next generation about building a society of non-violence Photo-essays: life histories recounted in the form of photos with quotes from the individuals depicted

Contested narratives If the issue of contested narratives emerges here, follow the same strategy as before in focusing on the fact that ‘absolute truth’ is not the primary focus of the session but acknowledging that perceptions differ, experiences differ and the ‘degree of suffering may differ. However, in dealing with our difficult past, there will always be the need to hear all sides of the story in order to understand the other and to realise that violent conflict has affected us all in one way or another. Therefore “EMPATHY’ is the key objective in this session. In the following situations, it is absolutely important to let people talk freely about their anger if it emerges. Particularly in situations where the participants feel that they do not need to hear about the other, because what they may have experienced is far worse, or not acknowledged by the other, or the ‘other’ is particularly blamed for the pain or suffering this community has experienced, or the impacts and repercussions of violent conflict are still felt or unresolved. Do not offer any advise, or position or opinion is such a situation as the objective is to not focus on difference or ascertain who was more affected than the other. If there is genuine anger and hurt, let it emerge as this is also catharsis, and it must be extracted before it can be dealt with constructively. When acknowledging suffering, wherever possible do it secularly. Be mindful that ethnically homogeneous groups may not always be religiously homogenous so try to encourage a minute of silence.

Emotional responses It doesn’t matter what the content is – the emotion and the ability to empathise is key in this session. It is important that pain and suffering is acknowledged in a form the participants are comfortable with as a joint exercise or group activity.

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LUNCH: Early departure In some cases, people may want to leave at this stage. However, in

discussion with the participants, in situations where the workshop must close earlier than anticipated, you may want to carry on and finish with a late lunch. In such a situation, abbreviate the sessions by combining session 5 and 6 (value-based understanding of conflict and value-based visioning for the future by completing session 5, but discussing session 6 in plenary choosing or acknowledging the value board developed as the group speaks at the end of the session.

SESSION 4: VALUE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF CONFLICT Understanding values and staying focused

It is important to define and differentiate between various words in Sinhala and Tamil for what values mean. You may facilitate a brief discussion on what are values or provide a definition of values to keep the session focused. Keep the dialogue focused on these ‘personally controllable principles’ rather than discussing specific unresolved or emerging issues and needs that someone else, including the Government is duty-bound to provide and as such is not within individual control.

Issues and other concerns

In cases where other issues come up in working groups that are not within personal control or cannot be considered values – for example, rule of law (which is different to ‘respect’ for rule of law which is a personal value), acknowledge that this was a reason that violent conflict may have happened but park it visibly but away from the personally controllable values. In cases, such as the above, you maybe able to throw the question back to the audience about how rule of law could become a personal value by adding ‘respecting the rule of law’.

SESSION 5: VISUALISING A VALUE-BASED SOCIETY FOR NON-RECURRENCE OF VIOLENCE Creating vision boards in open forum

Remind the group of the agreed or chosen definition of values (values as principles or standards of behaviour, of what considers important in order to create a better, more peaceful and prosperous society) Bear in mind that the entire day of reflection of the past experiences, the emotions felt as they looked at the self or the the empathy generated for the other, and the realisation at the end of the session that at a very personal level, they do not want violence in their society or village, was leading to this point about what kind of society we want to build in the future for the next generation or the generations to come in order to to

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resolve conflicts non-violently. You may want to highlight this towards the end of the session, once group work is complete.

Some examples of values that may emerge or you could create conversations to elicit

The following are a potential list of values we would like to elicit from the group –

- A commitment to non-violence or ahimsa - A commitment to non-violent communication or resolution of

conflicts - Tolerance for each other’s differences - An understanding of the other/ cultural openness/ religious

openness - A commitment to prevent communalism or racism including

casual/ everyday racism - Respect for the other’s space/rights/needs - Believing in equality - Respecting the rule of law

Clustering and recording As they present, remember to cluster and have the rapporteur take down the values as well as the other issues parked on the side.

Conversations about values

Bear in mind that we are trying to achieve an understanding that values need to be practiced in daily life in order to become ingrained in society and specifically in the next generation. Therefore, we need to break the values down to simple acts that we can practice in every life. For example, being angry about injustice is valid, protesting about injustice is valid, however attacking personal property or people or the other in any capacity is wrong. This is how non-violence can be ‘practiced’ In some cases, as the pilots have shown, it maybe useful to link these values to religious tenets in some groups if their primary context or ideas of good versus bad are derived from religion. In secular groups, this can be linked to cultural beliefs if it is useful for the discussion or none of these if it is irrelevant. This will have to judged according to each group. However, try as much as possible, to keep the discussions secular. In terms of transference of memory without prejudice, you may discuss how the next generation is linked to the idea of non-recurrence of violence. In effect, what key values should we pass on? Perhaps highlight here again, the importance of ‘practicing values’ and why the commitment should be placed at home in a prominent place so that it serves as a reminder about creating a value-based society for non-recurrence of violence.

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SESSION 6: FEEDBACK AND WRAP-UP SESSION Before closing the session, after the circle of commitment

End the day with the acknowledgement that we have dealt with difficult emotions, and have realised the varying degrees to which we are all affected by the cost of war and violence.

When wrapping up Before the closing, highlight that the objective of the workshop was primarily to understand the impact and cost of violence on our society and to build an understanding that while a lot of institutional and other processes are important to justice and sustainable peace, what we want to create is a groundswell of movement towards taking personal ownership for actions that we can control. Therefore, we would like to generate these conversations about the importance of a value-based society that each of us can contribute to, and practice in our daily lives so that we can pass this on to the next generation. The commitments that they are taking home is therefore a symbol of this recognition, and the acknowledgement that each of us can contribute at the personal level for a better society in order to prevent violence for our children.

B. STATIONARY CHECKLIST

At each training there should be: - Flip charts and flip chart boards - 3 - Brown paper - 3 - Ball point pens - 30-40 - Colour pencils - 3 cases - Colour felt pens - 3 cases - White board markers in three colours - 3 - Permanent markers in three colours - 3 - Thumb tacks or pins - 1 packet - Blue tack - 1 packet - Tape - 1 roll - Bristol board - 6 - Flash cards/ coloured paper squares - 60-80 - Post-it notes in two colours - 2 packets - White A4 size paper - 40 sheets - Projector and screen - Children’s toys, drawing materials, balloons - Resource pool of life-histories in video, photo-essays, tress of life, letters and

Children’s Memory Map formats

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C. EVALUATION/ FEEDBACK FORM CUT AND PASTE (English, or tamil or Sinhala)

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D. KEEPING A FACILITATION DIARY

It is important that as a facilitator, engaging in one or more sessions you keep a

facilitation diary which includes your impression of the day’s proceedings and a

brief after action review conducted with the project partners. The format of each

entry should be:

Date:

Venue:

Number of participants:

Impressions:

- Did the logic of the programme work?

- Were the objectives met?

- What worked and what did not?

- Anything you have learned that you may add or change in the next

workshop?

- How did you feel about the workshop and its outcomes?

- Any special notes?

E. RECOMMENDED READING Practice Paper: Reconciliation and Memorialisation in Sri Lanka (SFCG publication) Discussion Paper: Challenges and Opportunities for Memorialisation (SFCG publication) F. YOUR NOTES